Lionfish Smackdown

Date posted: May 19, 2014

In the LIONFISH SMACKDOWN arena, Reef Monitoring, Inc. held another successful Lionfish Roundup on May 10, 2014 at the Clearwater Harbor Downtown Marina.

There were nearly 100 divers registered for the event. Participants vied for the $500 first prize, while each received gear, refreshments, snacks and some Hooters wings as part of the Roundup Experience. Sponsors included the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Bill Jackson’s, The St. Pete Underwater Club and The Fishing Rights Alliance.

Many were pleased to see that congressman David Jolly was there, listening to the divers and the scientific experts present, asking questions and opening direct lines of communication with interested people.

Special thanks should go out to Dr. Heyward Mathews, Sean Patterson and St. Petersburg College for making this event a success.

Roundup results will appear here when available.

Check out the Reef Monitoring website for more information about the Lionfish Roundup and other research efforts.

Reef Monitoring, Inc. on the research aspect of the Lionfish Roundup:

While we are doing our best to eradicate lionfish, research is still at the heart of everything that Reef Monitoring does. So this event will not simply be a search and destroy. Reef Monitoring will also use every specimen collected to further our research.

Fish will be weighed and measured for empirical data. Stomach contents will be removed and analyzed to study the diets of these fish. What are they eating?

The otolith (ear bone) will be removed from the head of each fish. This can tell us exactly how old the fish is. However scientists believe that the otolith can do more and actually give us further insight to the history of the fish. We are excited to continue this avenue of our research!